U.S. patent number 7,657,633 [Application Number 11/452,175] was granted by the patent office on 2010-02-02 for system and method to identify customer premise equipment devices.
This patent grant is currently assigned to AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.. Invention is credited to Brian A. Gonsalves, Kenneth Roger Jones.
United States Patent |
7,657,633 |
Jones , et al. |
February 2, 2010 |
System and method to identify customer premise equipment
devices
Abstract
A method and system for use in identifying customer premises
equipment (CPE) in a distributed network are presented. The method
utilizes a unique identifier provided by a CPE device to a host
server during the discovery stage of PPPoE communications in a
distributed network. The server receives the unique identifier and
stores the identifier for use in identifying and managing CPE
devices attached to a service provider's network. The host server
is configured to receive an active discovery packet from a
communications device. The active discovery packet has a tag
comprising a device identifier field. The device identifier
includes chipset and firmware information regarding remote DSL
CPE.
Inventors: |
Jones; Kenneth Roger (Cool,
CA), Gonsalves; Brian A. (Antioch, CA) |
Assignee: |
AT&T Intellectual Property I,
L.P. (Reno, NV)
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Family
ID: |
34573298 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/452,175 |
Filed: |
June 13, 2006 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20060271666 A1 |
Nov 30, 2006 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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10700337 |
Aug 1, 2006 |
7085838 |
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10634116 |
Jan 16, 2007 |
7165111 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/227; 709/229;
709/222; 709/219; 709/217 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L
12/2856 (20130101); H04L 61/6004 (20130101); H04L
67/14 (20130101); H04L 29/12839 (20130101); H04L
29/12801 (20130101); H04L 41/12 (20130101); H04L
29/06 (20130101); H04L 12/2859 (20130101); H04L
61/6022 (20130101); H04M 11/062 (20130101); H04L
12/2898 (20130101); H04L 41/08 (20130101); H04L
69/329 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
15/16 (20060101); G06F 15/177 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;370/352
;709/220,223,224,226,229,228,230,241 ;713/1 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Mamakos et al., RFC 2516--A method for Transmitting PPP Over
Ethernet (PPPoE), Feb. 1999, pp. 1-12. cited by examiner .
Bradley Mitchell, "MAC Addressing--Introduction to the MAC
Address",
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/networkprotocolsip/l/aa062202a.htm,
p. 1. cited by examiner .
"Ethernet address: Information from Answers.com",
http://www.answers.com/Ethernet+address?cat=technology, p. 1. cited
by examiner .
"Vendor/Ethernet MAC Address Lookup and Search",
http://coffer.com/mac.sub.--find/, p. 1. cited by examiner .
"Sample List of Vendor/Ethernet MAC Address",
http://standards.ieee.org/regauth/oui/oui.txt, pp. 1-7. cited by
examiner .
International Search Report and Written Opinion of the
International Searching Authority for International Application No.
PCT/US04/33725, Mailed on Aug. 29, 2005. cited by other.
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Primary Examiner: Nguyen; Quang N.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Toler Law Group
Parent Case Text
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)
This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 10/700,337, filed on Nov. 3, 2003 and issued Aug. 1, 2006 as
U.S. Pat. No. 7,085,838 entitled "COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM FOR
IDENTIFYING REMOTE DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE (DSL) CUSTOMER PREMISES
EOUIPMENT (CPE) DEVICES DURING A DISCOVERY PHASE," which is a
continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 10/634,116, filed on Aug. 4, 2003 and issued on Jan. 16, 2007
as U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,111 entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD TO IDENTIFY
DEVICES EMPLOYING POINT-TO-POINT OVER ETHERNET ENCAPSULATION," the
contents of each of which are expressly incorporated herein by
reference in their entirety.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A system comprising: a broadband access server responsive to a
remote digital subscriber line (DSL) customer premises equipment
(CPE) device, the broadband access server operative to receive a
data packet during a point to point over Ethernet (PPPoE) discovery
stage, wherein the data packet includes a host-uniq tag that
includes a device identifier, wherein the device identifier
comprises a chipset identifier associated with the DSL CPE device
that identifies a chipset type used by the DSL CPE device, and
wherein the device identifier comprises a chipset firmware
identifier that identifies firmware used by the identified chipset
type.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data packet includes a device
firmware identifier.
3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a communication path
to provide data communications with the broadband access server,
wherein the communication path is a PPPoE communication path.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the broadband access server is
coupled to a database and wherein the device identifier is stored
in the database.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the data packet is a PPPoE active
discovery packet.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the PPPoE active discovery packet
includes one of a PPPoE active discovery initiation (PADI) packet
and a PPPoE active discovery request (PADR) packet.
7. A system comprising: a host server having access to a remote
digital subscriber line (DSL) customer premises equipment (CPE)
device, the host server operative to receive a data packet during a
point to point over Ethernet (PPPoE) discovery stage, wherein the
data packet includes a host-uniq tag that includes a device
identifier associated with the DSL CPE device, wherein the device
identifier identifies a specific product model of DSL CPE device,
and wherein the device identifier includes a chipset firmware
identifier that identifies firmware used by a chipset type of the
DSL CPE device; and a customer service terminal coupled to the host
server, wherein the customer service terminal is operative to:
receive the device identifier; and display the device identifier to
a user of the customer service terminal.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the device identifier includes a
chipset identifier associated with the DSL CPE device.
9. The system of claim 7, further comprising an operations station,
the operations station receiving and storing the device identifier,
the operations station coupled to a report generation element to
display a report that includes the device identifier.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the report includes a plurality
of device identifiers associated with a plurality of DSL CPE
devices within a communications network.
11. The system of claim 7, wherein the host server is a broadband
remote access server coupled to the customer service terminal via
an intermediate computer network.
12. The communications system of claim 7, wherein the host-uniq tag
is a 24 bit binary number.
13. The system of claim 7, wherein the device identifier includes a
firmware identifier.
14. The system of claim 7, wherein the device identifier includes a
device firmware identifier associated with the DSL CPE device.
15. A method comprising: sending, during a point to point over
Ethernet (PPPoE) discovery stage, a first data packet from a
digital subscriber line (DSL) customer premises equipment (CPE)
device to a server, the first data packet including a first
host-uniq tag that identifies a specific product model of the DSL
CPE device, and the first data packet including a chipset firmware
identifier that identifies firmware used by a chipset type of the
DSL CPE device; receiving, at the DSL CPE device, a second data
packet from the server; and sending, during the PPPoE discovery
stage, a third data packet from the DSL CPE device to the server in
response to receiving the second data packet, the third data packet
comprising a second host-uniq tag identifying the specific product
model of the DSL CPE device.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising, after sending the
third data packet, receiving a confirmation data packet at the DSL
CPE device from the server.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising commencing an
Ethernet communication session between the DSL CPE device and the
server.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein the first host-uniq tag
comprises a chipset identifier associated with the DSL CPE
device.
19. The method of claim 15, wherein the first host-uniq tag
comprises a device firmware identifier associated with the DSL CPE
device.
Description
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to identifying characteristics of
customer premise equipment using point-to-point-over-Ethernet
(PPPoE) service.
2. Description of the Related Art
Broadband service providers for distributed computing network
services such as digital subscriber line (DSL) service typically
require the end user, e.g., the home or business DSL subscriber, to
employ a router, switch, or other customer premises equipment (CPE)
to terminate the DSL connection at the residence or business
location. The router or other CPE serves to terminate the
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) connection, and generally utilizes
point-to-point-over-Ethernet (PPPoE) enabled software to complete
the user authentication process.
When a DSL subscriber encounters a problem with their DSL
connection, the DSL service provider has no way to automatically
determine the specific make and/or model of a particular CPE device
being utilized by the DSL subscriber. In this situation, telephone
inquiries to the subscriber are made to attempt to discover what
type of equipment is being utilized at the CPE location, or a
service technician is dispatched to "eyeball" the equipment when
the customer does not know what type of CPE device is at their
location. Consider a typical case of tens of thousands (or even
millions, in some cases) of DSL subscribers and their respective
CPE devices, and the support problems presented to the DSL service
provider become evident.
In addition, when a service provider wishes to upgrade DSL
transport services in their service area(s), e.g., the provision of
Point to Point Protocol Termination and Aggregation (PTA), it may
be difficult to cost-effectively deploy the new service plan if the
service provider does not know what types of CPE devices are
currently deployed. For example, if a new transport service is
scheduled for deployment in a specific geographic region, but it is
determined that a large number of CPE devices may not support the
new service, delays in deployment result. Such delays lead to
increased provider costs, which are typically passed along to the
subscribers, resulting in higher rates.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system or method which is
capable of automatically identifying CPE devices and their
equipment type in a service provider's service area.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a distributed network;
FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram of a customer premises equipment
(CPE) device connected via an IP network to an access
concentrator;
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the stages of PPPoE
discovery;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an ADSL bridge/router board which
incorporates a module configured to transmit a point-to-point over
Ethernet (PPPoE) active discovery packet, including a tag;
FIG. 5 illustrates a data packet for use in a distributed
network;
FIG. 6 illustrates an Ethernet payload for point-to-point over
Ethernet (PPPoE);
FIG. 7 illustrates a tag for use in an Ethernet payload;
FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a nine binary bit CPE device
identifier code embedded in the 0x0103 host-uniq tag;
FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a host-uniq tag that includes
chipset and firmware information;
FIG. 10 illustrates a system that utilizes the host-uniq tag
information;
FIG. 11 is a flow chart that illustrates a method of accessing DSL
CPE information; and
FIG. 12 is a flow chart that illustrates use of the host-uniq tag
of FIG. 9
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings
indicates similar or identical items.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present disclosure provides a method, system, and apparatus for
use in identifying customer premises equipment (CPE) in a
distributed network. The method utilizes a unique device identifier
that is provided by a CPE device during the discovery stage of
point-to-point over Ethernet (PPPoE) communications in a
distributed network. A host server collects this CPE-provided
information, which may be used by a broadband service provider to
identify, and thus manage, the CPE devices which form a part of the
service provider's network domain. An example of a distributed
network system including a collection of domains with one or more
networks is illustrated in FIG. 1. An exemplary device identifier
includes chipset and firmware information regarding the DSL CPE and
is illustrated in FIG. 9.
FIG. 1 is a simplified example of a distributed network, and is
referred to as distributed network system 100. Distributed network
system 100 can include numerous routing domains 103 and 105, which
are connected to a backbone network 101. In a hierarchically
arranged network system, backbone 101 is the central connection
path shared by the nodes and networks connected to it. The backbone
101 administers the bulk of traffic between communicating nodes to
provide end-to-end service between one user, for example, source
node 121 in domain 103, and another user, for example destination
node 142.
Each routing domain 103, 105 in distributed network system 100 is a
collection of one or more local networks that are attached to the
backbone 101 through one or more routers 123, 124, 125, 130, 132,
134, and 135. A router is a specialized computer for processing
Internet protocol (IP) data and forwarding IP data along respective
network paths. In the following discussion, the term local network
shall be used to refer to all types of networks that may be
included in a domain. Routing domains 103 and 105 are also referred
to as autonomous systems (AS). An autonomous system is a set of
nodes and routers that operate under the same administration. The
domains 103 and 105 may be operated by the same service provider
(same administration) or by different service providers. The
networks in routing domains 103 and 105 may be
residence/subscribers' home networks, local area networks (LAN),
wide area networks (WAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN), or the
like.
In a point-to-point (PPP) connectivity network, various types and
models of CPE devices such as CPE devices 124 and 125, or 130, 140,
and 135 are used to terminate the point-to-point (PPP) connections.
One type of point-to-point connectivity communications is
point-to-point over Ethernet (PPPoE). With various types of
broadband access, e.g. digital subscriber line (DSL) service,
connectivity may be provided via PPPoE within the domains 103 and
105. It will be appreciated that the numbers of networks, routers,
CPE devices, and nodes (nodes are depicted by a circle with `N`
inscribed within the circle) have been constrained in the example
of FIG. 1 to avoid clutter.
Broadband access service, such as digital subscriber line (DSL)
service, entails the use of a CPE device to terminate the DSL
(PPPoE) connection at the residence or business location of the DSL
subscriber. This is illustrated in FIG. 2, which illustrates a
simplified diagram of a point-to-point connection being
established.
FIG. 2 illustrates a CPE device 225 connected through an IP network
201 to an access concentrator 223. In an embodiment, the access
concentrator 223 is a broadband remote access server (BRAS).
Typically, the CPE device 225 terminates the asynchronous transfer
mode (ATM) connection, and has point-to-point over Ethernet (PPPoE)
software to complete a user authentication process. The CPE device
225 may be a router or a switch, or any device that terminates a
PPPoE connection. The CPE device 225 contains a module configured
to transmit a PPPoE packet including a tag to uniquely identify the
CPE device 225 product model. Access concentrator 223 is connected
to a database 226 to store the device identifier field data
obtained from the CPE device 225 during discovery/authentication
processes. The method utilizes the packet exchange during the
conduct of a PPPoE discovery process.
PPPoE has two distinct stages, a discovery stage, and a PPP session
stage. When a host wishes to initiate a PPPoE session, it first
performs discovery to identify the Ethernet media access control
(MAC) address of the peer, and establishes a PPPoE SESSION_ID.
Although PPP defines a peer-to-peer relationship, discovery is a
client-server relationship. That is, in the discovery process, a
host (the client, or CPE device 225) discovers an access
concentrator 223 (the server), and various discovery steps are
followed to permit the host and the server to have the information
required to build their point-to-point connection over Ethernet.
This discovery process is illustrated in FIG. 3.
The method and system disclosed herein utilizes a tag identified in
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) RFC 2516 (A Method for
Transmitting PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE)) in an innovative way to
determine which CPE devices, such as CPE device 225, are connected
to a network. The client (CPE 225) is capable of generating a
device identifier code in response to receiving a PPPoE packet
communicated over a distributed network. In the first step 302 of
the discovery process, the CPE device 225 broadcasts a PPPoE active
discovery initiation (PADI) packet. This PADI packet includes a tag
that specifically identifies a product model of the CPE device 225.
The tag in a particular embodiment is a host-uniq tag, and the
device identifier code is a binary number associated with a
specific product model or type of CPE device. In a specific
embodiment, the binary number is a nine bit binary number.
The access concentrator 223, such as the broadband remote access
server (BRAS), transmits a PPPoE active discovery offer (PADO)
packet in step 304. In step 306, the PADO packet is received by the
client 225, and accepted. In response to the PADO packet receipt,
an active discovery request packet (PADR) packet is generated and
transmitted to the server 223. The PADR packet can also include a
tag that specifically identifies a product model of the CPE device
225. In step 308, the server receives the PADR packet, and
generates and transmits a PPPoE active discovery session (PADS)
confirmation packet. The session discovery process is concluded,
and an Ethernet communication session is then conducted between the
client 225 and the server 223.
The host-uniq tag information may be transmitted in the PADI
packet. Alternatively, the host-uniq tag information may also be
transmitted in the PADR packet. Generally it is most efficient to
utilize the PADI packet for device identification, however, the CPE
device could return the device identifier in the tag with a PADR
packet as well. Whether the tag information is contained in the
PADI or PADR packets, the access concentrator 223 receives the PAD
packet, and stores the device identifier code in a database (226,
FIG. 2). After collection of the device identifier codes in the
tag, the database can be used to determine the specific product
model of a CPE device based on the information embedded in the tag.
This information is then available to be provided to customer
service representatives to diagnose and repair user problems,
thereby decreasing the number of customer site visits and
subscriber call requests required of service technicians.
An advantage provided by the disclosed method is that it
facilitates network management based upon the product model of the
CPE devices determined to be present in the network. For example,
the use of the host-uniq tag and the unique device identifier
allows broadband service providers to check on the CPE devices in
use on the provider's network. This information could be used to
target marketing efforts, or to enable surveys of existing
equipment to determine if the existing equipment will work with new
technologies that a broadband service provider would like to
deploy. It should be noted that although the examples provided thus
far have discussed primarily DSL broadband services, PPPoE is an
authentication system that is not restricted to DSL.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an ADSL bridge/router board 400
incorporating a module 415 configured to transmit a point-to-point
over Ethernet (PPPoE) active discovery packet including a tag. In a
particular embodiment, the tag comprises a device identifier field
that uniquely identifies a CPE product model. It will be
appreciated that, with the exception of module 415, the block
diagram of FIG. 4 is provided as a generic example of an integrated
microprocessor designed to meet the needs of communications
applications, and as such does not represent the only architecture
possible for CPE devices.
CPE board 400 includes a memory control module 409 with connecting
Flash 411 and SDRAM 410 memory components. Other components in
board 400 include a universal serial bus (USB) controller 419 and a
USB device connector 420; an ATM segmentation and reassembly (SAR)
controller module 414; a DSL chipset 412 and DSL connector 413; a
10/100 Mbps Ethernet controller module 416, transceiver 417, and
connector 418. ATM controller module 414 and Ethernet controller
module 415 have been integrated into the board 400 as network
interfaces.
During a PPPoE discovery process, module 415 sends a PPPoE active
discovery (PAD) packet. The PAD packet includes a tag comprising a
device identifier field that uniquely identifies a CPE product
model. The device identifier field can also be generated in
response to receiving a PAD packet. The PAD packet containing the
tag/device identifier can be a PADI packet, or alternately, a PADR
packet. In one embodiment, the tag is a host-uniq tag, and the
device identifier field comprises a predefined binary number
embedded in the host-uniq tag. This predefined binary number can be
a nine-bit binary device identifier code.
FIG. 5 illustrates a data packet 500 for use in a distributed
network. The data packet 500 includes a destination address field
(DESTINATION_ADDR) 502 which typically contains either a unicast
Ethernet destination address, or the Ethernet broadcast address
(0xffffffff). For discovery packets, the field 502 value is either
a unicast or a broadcast address. For PPP session traffic, the
field 502 value contains the peer's unicast address as determined
from the discovery stage.
A source address field (SOURCE_ADDR) 504 is also contained in data
packet 500. This field 504 contains the Ethernet media access
control (MAC) address of the source device. The ETHER_TYPE field
506 is set to a first value during the discovery stage, or to a
second value during the PPP session stage. The payload field 508
contains the Ethernet payload for PPPoE, and is discussed in detail
in FIG. 6. The checksum field 510 serves to verify packet
integrity.
FIG. 6 illustrates an illustrative Ethernet payload that may be
used with PPPoE. The VERSION field 602 is four bits, and identifies
the version number of the PPPoE specifications, e.g., 0x1. The TYPE
field 604 is four bits, and identifies the Ethernet type for a
given version of PPPoE specifications. The CODE field 606 is eight
bits, and the CODE field value depends upon whether discovery stage
or PPP stage is in effect.
The SESSION_ID field 612 is 16 bits, and is an unsigned value in
network byte order. For a given PPP session, the field 612 is
fixed, and defines a PPP session along with the Ethernet source
address (504 in FIG. 5) and destination address (502 in FIG. 5). In
the discovery stage, the SESSION_ID field 612 has a different value
depending upon the type of discovery packet in which field 612 is
contained. The LENGTH field 610 is 16 bits having a value, in
network byte order, that indicates the length of the PPPoE payload
608.
A PPPoE payload 508 contains zero or more tags. A tag is a
type-length-value (TLV) construct, and an example tag is shown in
FIG. 7. The sample tag includes a TAG_TYPE field 702 that is a 16
bit field in network byte order. A list of tag types that may be
present in the field 702 includes tag types end-of-list,
service-name, AC-name, host-uniq, and AC-cookie tags. The
TAG_LENGTH field 704 is 16 bits, and is an unsigned number in
network byte order which indicates the length in octets of the
TAG_VALUE 706.
IETF RFC 2516 defines the host-uniq tag as follows: "This tag is
used by a host to uniquely associate an access concentrator
response (PADO or PADS) to a particular host request (PADI or
PADR). The TAG_VALUE is binary data of any value and length that
the host chooses. It is not interpreted by the access concentrator.
The host may include a host-uniq tag in a PADI or PADR. If the
access concentrator receives this tag, it must include the tag
unmodified in the associated PADO or PADS response." From the
foregoing IETF definition, it should be clear that although the
present disclosure utilizes a predefined tag, the tag is utilized
in a unique way to identify CPE devices, as well as to collect CPE
device information at the access concentrator or database server
attached to the access concentrator, for network management
purposes.
An example of a nine bit binary CPE device identifier code embedded
in a host-uniq tag is illustrated in FIG. 8. The CPE device
identifier code uses numbers in the standard binary number system
to produce any particular CPE device number between 0 and 512. In
Example 1 of FIG. 8, an Efficient Networks 5861 Router has the
binary number 000000001, making its device binary number equal to
1. In Example 2, a Netopia 3546 Router has the binary number
111111111, making its device binary number equal to 512. Using the
examples of FIG. 8, when a device identifier code transmitted to
the access concentrator/database from the CPE device is 111111111,
the determination would be that this CPE device model type is a
Netopia 3546 Router. Similarly, when the identifier code received
is 000000001, the access concentrator would determine that the CPE
device model type is an Efficient Networks 5861 Router.
Referring to FIG. 9, another embodiment of a host-uniq tag 900 is
illustrated. The host-uniq tag 900 includes a first set of data
(bits 1-8) 908, a second set of data (bits 9-16) 910, and a third
set of data (bits 17-24) 912. The first set of data 908 forms a
first field 902 that includes a device firmware description. The
second set of data 910 includes a second field 904 that includes
chipset information, and the third set of the data 912 forms a
third field 906 that includes chipset code or firmware information.
The device firmware field 902 includes a unique identifier for a
particular type of firmware for a CPE device, such as a router for
a DSL modem. Similarly, the chipset field 904 includes a unique
identity of the chipset type used by the CPE device. The chipset
code or firmware field 906 identifies the chipset code or firmware
used by the chipset of the particular CPE device identified by the
host-uniq tag 900. By identifying the particular type of equipment
for the CPE device, technical support operators and customer
support personnel may receive further information regarding the
particular type of CPE devices and their equipment configurations
throughout the network.
Referring to FIG. 10, an illustrative system that may use the
host-uniq tag 900 is shown. The system includes a broadband access
server 1008, a computer network such as the internet 1010, a
customer service terminal 1004, and a technical staff and
operations systems 1006. The technical staff and operations system
1006 is coupled to a report generation module 1012. The operations
system includes an operation station for use by operations
personnel to access device information for the remote DSL CPE
devices. The broadband server 1008 includes a memory 1002 that
stores the host-uniq tag 900. The host uniq-tag 900 is stored in
the memory 1002 upon retrieval from remote CPE devices using the
point-to-point over Ethernet protocol during the discovery phase.
The host-uniq tag 900 may be retrieved and distributed to either
the customer service terminal 1004 or the operation system 1006 via
the internet 1010.
The customer service terminal 1004 provides a display screen for
customer help desk personnel that are assisting far end customers
such as DSL subscribers with connectivity and other service issues.
The customer service terminal 1004 may display to the customer
support personnel information regarding the remote CPE device such
as a particular device's firmware, chipset or chipset code firmware
as determined by the host-uniq tag 900. Similarly, the technical
staff and operations system 1006 may retrieve the host-uniq tag 900
and evaluate the tag 900 to determine CPE equipment information
throughout the network. The technical staff may use such
information for troubleshooting and operations personnel may use
such information for providing technical support as well as
equipment updates and other technical deployments. For example,
when the operations staff evaluates network performance and errors,
the staff may characterize CPE equipment failures based on the
particular information within the host-uniq tag, such as the
particular device firmware, chipset, and chipset codes in use. A
network report of the various distributed CPE units may then be
prepared and presented by the report generation module 1012. In
such manner, operations personnel and technical staff may evaluate
performance of the CPE devices and different equipment types as
well as chipsets and firmware deployed within the network to
provide enhanced technical performance and capabilities.
Referring to FIG. 11, a method of communicating the host-uniq tag
is illustrated. A PPPoE (Point-to-Point over Ethernet) active
discovery initiation (PADI) packet including a host-uniq tag from a
DSL customer premise equipment (CPE) device is communicated to a
broad-band remote access server (BRAS), at 1102. A device
identifier that includes a firmware identifier, a chipset
identifier, and a chipset firmware code from the host-uniq tag is
then retrieved for the particular DSL CPE identified, at 1104. The
DSL CPE device identifier is stored in a memory either locally or
at an external database, at 1106. A PPPoE active discovery offer
(PADO) packet is then communicated to the DSL CPE, at 1108. A PPPoE
active discovery request (PADR) packet is communicated to the BRAS,
at 1110, and a PPPoE active discovery session confirmation (PADS)
packet is communicated, at 1112. The point-to-point connection is
then established over the Ethernet between the DSL CPE and the
BRAS, at 1114.
Referring to FIG. 12, a method of retrieving and using the
host-uniq tag that provides a CPE device identifier is illustrated.
Device identity information from a DSL CPE is communicated to an
equipment host, at 1202. The DSL CPE device identity is then
retrieved at a customer support terminal, at 1204. The DSL CPE
device identity is retrieved in an operations and technical support
system and reports are prepared based on the DSL CPE device
identity, at 1206. A device type of the DSL CPE is then determined
within the network based on the device identity, at 1208, and
surveys may be performed on the existing CPE devices within the
network to determine suitability of such equipment with respect to
updated technology deployments, at 1210.
Thus, a system that uniquely identifies a device identity and
equipment types including device firmware, chipset types, and
chipset codes or firmwares for particular DSL CPE deployments may
be retrieved from a variety of units deployed within a distributed
network. A technical operations system customer service terminal
may receive access to such device identifying information to
provide for improved service and support of the network.
The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered
illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are
intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other
embodiments which fall within the true spirit and scope of the
present invention. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the
scope of the present invention is to be determined by the broadest
permissible interpretation of the following claims and their
equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the
foregoing detailed description.
* * * * *
References